2016 Events

18^th January 2016

Hugh Sharp gave a very informative talk about Lord Byron who was a very colourful character. Hugh illustrated his talk with some wonderful slides he had taken and researched on the internet.

15th February 2016: A.G.M.

Xiaomin Pang, a journalist for independent media, gave a fascinating talk on the cultural history of her homeland. Now a resident of the UK, her mission is to help the world develop a better understanding of China and to help Chinese to know the real world. She does this by giving people a better understanding of Chinese traditions and history.

21st March 2016: ‘Birmingham Cathedral’ – Stephen Record

We had an interesting presentation for our March meeting about Birmingham Cathedral. It was given by Stephen Record, a visitor chaplain and a member of the U3A Coleshill Group. The Cathedral was originally built as a church 300 years ago, becoming a cathedral in 1905. It is famous for its Burne-Jones windows, three depicting the Nativity, Crucifixion and Ascension. A fourth window added later depicts Hope and Reconciliation.

We held our own EU ‘In/Out’ Referendum as a matter of interest. The majority voting out. Another vote is planned nearer to the official one in June to see whether opinions have changed.

18th April 2016: ‘Titanic – the Midlands Connections’ – Andrew Lound

For our April meeting we had an interesting presentation ‘Titanic – The Midlands Connections’ by Andrew Lound. This gave us an insight into the important role of industries around the Birmingham and surrounding area in supplying the marine industry. Birmingham was noted as a manufacturing area supplying the home market and the export market. Brass and iron manufacturers supplied many parts such as anchors, cable chains, steam boilers, screws, light fittings, door furniture and more for the building of the Titanic.

16th May 2016: ‘A Traveller’s Tale’ – Ed Shore

For our May meeting we had an entertaining presentation from Ed Shore. This was the story of a journey he made with his wife to India in 1993, towing his caravan across remote desert land and through various borders where they were sometimes locked in a police compound overnight for their safety.

20th June 2016: ‘Tales from a Farmer’s Wife’ – Jane Barnes

Jane Barnes  gave an enlightening talk titled ‘Tales from a Farmer’s Wife’. Jane’s family are dairy farmers in Somersby, between Melton Mowbray and Oakham. Jane outlined the life cycle of a cow from conception to a milking cow. All of the 850,000 litres per of milk produced per annum is sold to a dairy where it is made into blue cheese. We were able to purchase some of the cheese produced.

18th July 2016: ‘The History of Potting’ – John and Annette Christophers

John and Annette gave us an entertaining and informative talk about the history of potting going back to six thousand BC. when early settlers discovered that clay from riverbanks could be shaped to make toys and other items. They also discovered that when items were heated in the fire it gave them extra strength and durability therefore making useful cooking pots. We were all provided with a lump of clay and following a demonstration we were invited to make a disk adding our initial and something to represent a hobby. These were collected and John continued the talk. John and Annette bought with them a selection of their pottery for sale and we were told that it takes five to seven years of intensive training to produce saleable pottery. At the end of the presentation we saw that our artistic endeavours had been magically transformed into a bowl by Annette. John and Annette will fire this and present it to Coleshill U3A together with another bowl that will be made out of the remaining discs not used for the original.   They suggested that we consider using them to raise money for charity.

15th August 2016: ‘Old Coleshill’ – Dr. Andrew Watkins

Our speaker Dr. Andrew Watkins was introduced and gave an informative, illustrated talk incorporating new research about Coleshill. We were shown some historic maps of Coleshill and heard about the names and locations of different areas of Coleshill.

17^th October 2016: ‘The Tolpuddle Martyrs’ – Hugh Sharp

Hugh’s talk included a brief history of the founding of the Friendly Society by six agricultural labourers from Tolpuddle. The Society was founded to try and improve workers pay and rights following cuts to their wages.  In 1832 only the more highly paid workers were eligible to vote. This excluded most agricultural workers who were paid so poorly that they did not qualify.  The six swore on oath to the society and were sentenced to transportation to Australia on charges of felony.  They were pardoned in 1836 and most of them eventually settled in Canada.  Hugh then went on to entertain us with a three related stories about the growth of Sydney in Australia where the martyrs were sent, pictures of one of the workers cottage and facts about Tolpuddle today, and a picture and explanation of the significance of a sycamore tree in Tolpuddle believed to be where the men used to meet.

21st November 2016: ‘The Secret Life of the Magician’ – Neil Roberts

Neil gave a brief history of the inception of the various Magic Societies that exist.  The first one being founded in Birmingham in 1905 and still in existence today.  We were also treated to a few tricks.